Health officials visit the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Health has sent an urgent dispatch to hospitals and health departments in cities and provinces to step up the early detection and good preparation for the prevention of and combat against pneumonia caused by a new strain of coronavirus.
Medical facilities must classify patients from the time they come to register for examination. Those with symptoms of acute respiratory infection such as cough or fever must be separated.
Any suspicious cases must be temporarily isolated and reported to the ministry’s Preventive Medicine Department to take samples for timely diagnosis.
It is necessary to increase communication campaigns about the disease and prevention measures.
The health ministry suggested setting up quick response teams to support hospitals at the lower level.
No coronavirus cases have been reported in Vietnam by January 19, according to the Preventive Medicine Department.
Two Chinese people from China’s Wuhan city who were in Vietnam were tested negative to the virus. They were discharged from hospital and returned to their country, the department said.
The health ministry will continue to closely supervise the disease at border gates, hospitals and in the community to get ready for treatment and management.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO), cases of acute pneumonia caused by coronavirus were reported in Wuhan city. The first patient developed symptoms on December 12 last year. As many as 45 people in the city were reported to be suffering from the disease by January 19.
The first death from the virus occurred in the city on January 9. Two other cases have been detected in Thailand and Japan with health authorities in both countries saying the patients had visited Wuhan prior to their hospitalisation./.
VNA
